Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T06:09:15.032Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Geochronological and geochemical constraints on the origin of highly 13Ccarb-depleted calcite in basal Ediacaran cap carbonate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 April 2022

Zhongwu Lan Open the ORCID record for Zhongwu Lan [Opens in a new window] ,
Shitou Wu ,
Nick M. W. Roberts ,
Shujing Zhang ,
Rong Cao ,
Hao Wang  and
Yueheng Yang
Zhongwu Lan*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100029, China State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Science, Nanjing210008, Jiangsu, China State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan430074, Hubei, China
Shitou Wu
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100029, China
Nick M. W. Roberts
Affiliation:
Geochronology and Tracers Facility, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, NG12 5GG, UK
Shujing Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
Rong Cao
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100029, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100049, China
Hao Wang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100029, China
Yueheng Yang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100029, China
*
Author for correspondence: Zhongwu Lan, Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Ediacaran cap dolostone atop Marinoan glacial deposits contains complex sedimentary structures with extremely negative δ13Ccarb values in close association with oscillations in palaeoclimatic and oceanographic proxy records. However, the precise geological, geochronological and geochemical context of the cap dolostone is not clarified, which hampers us from correctly interpreting the extremely negative δ13Ccarb values and their causal relationships with the Snowball Earth hypothesis. In this study, we conducted detailed in situ geochronological and geochemical analyses on the calcite within the cap dolostone from the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation in South China in order to define its formation and relationship to the Snowball Earth hypothesis. Petrographic observations show that formation of dolomite pre-dates precipitation of calcite and pyrite, which pre-dates quartz cementation in the basal cap carbonate. Calcite cement within the cap dolostone yielded a U–Pb age of 636.5 ± 7.4/17.8 Ma (2σ, MSWD = 1.6, n = 36/40), which is within uncertainty of a published dolomite U–Pb age of 632 ± 17 Ma (recalculated as 629.3 ± 16.7/22.9 Ma). These age constraints negate the possibility that the calcite cement was formed by late Ediacaran or Cambrian hydrothermal activity. The rare earth element distribution patterns suggest a dominant seawater origin overprinted by subsequent early Ediacaran hydrothermal activity. The combined age, petrographic and geochemical data suggest oxidization of methane clathrates in response to complicated interplay between eustasy and isostatic rebound and hydrothermal fluids.

Keywords

cap carbonateSouth Chinacalcite U–Pb geochronologycalcite REELA-ICP-MS
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 159 , Issue 8 , August 2022 , pp. 1323 - 1334
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baker, JA, Peate, DW, Waight, T and Meyzen, C (2004) Pb isotopic analysis of standards and samples using a 207Pb-204Pb double spike and thallium to correct for mass bias with a double-focusing MC-ICP-MS. Chemical Geology 211, 275–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bao, HM, Lyons, JR and Zhou, C (2008) Triple oxygen isotope evidence for elevated CO2 levels after a Neoproterozoic glaciation. Nature 453, 504–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bristow, TF, Bonifacie, M, Derkowski, A, Eiler, JM and Grotzinger, JP (2011) A hydrothermal origin for isotopically anomalous cap dolostone cements from south China. Nature 474, 68–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chew, DM, Petrus, JA and Kamber, BS (2014) U–Pb LA–ICPMS dating using accessory mineral standards with variable common Pb. Chemical Geology 363, 185–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Condon, D, Zhu, MY, Bowring, S, Wang, W, Yang, AH and Jin, YG (2005) U–Pb ages from the Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Formation, China. Science 308, 95–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coogan, LA, Parrish, RR and Roberts, NM (2016) Early hydrothermal carbon uptake by the upper oceanic crust: insight from in situ U–Pb dating. Geology 44, 147–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crockford, PW, Wing, BA, Paytan, A, Hodgskiss, MSW, Mayfield, KK, Hayles, JA, Middleton, JE, Ahm, ASC, Johnston, DT, Caxito, F, Uhlein, G, Halverson, GP, Eickmann, B, Torres, M and Horner, TJ (2019) Barium-isotopic constraints on the origin of post-Marinoan barites. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 519, 234–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cui, H, Orland, IJ, Denny, A, Kitajima, K, Fournelle, JH, Baele, JM, De Winter, NJ, Goderis, S, Claeys, P and Valley, JW (2019) Ice or fire? Constraining the origin of isotopically anomalous cap carbonate cements by SIMS. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 51. doi: 10.1130/abs/2019AM-332456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Derkowski, A, Bristow, TF, Wampler, JM, Sŕodoń, J, Marynowski, L, Elliott, WC and Chamberlain, CP (2013) Hydrothermal alteration of the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation in the Yangtze Gorges area (South China). Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 107, 279–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Derry, LA and Jacobsen, SB (1990) The chemical evolution of Precambrian seawater: evidence from REEs in banded iron formations. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 54, 2965–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franchi, F, Hofmann, A, Cavalazzi, B, Wilson, A and Barbieri, R (2015) Differentiating marine vs hydrothermal processes in Devonian carbonate mounds using rare earth elements (Kess Kess mounds, Anti-Atlas, Morocco). Chemical Geology 409, 69–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gan, T, Luo, TY, Pang, K, Zhou, CM, Zhou, GH, Wan, B, Li, G, Yi, QR, Czaja, AD and Xiao, SH (2021) Cryptic terrestrial fungus-like fossils of the early Ediacaran Period. Nature Communications 12, 641. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-20975-1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Griffin, W, Powell, W, Pearson, NJ and O Reilly, S (2008) GLITTER: data reduction software for laser ablation ICP-MS. In Laser Ablation-ICP-MS in the Earth Sciences: Current Practices and Outstanding Issues (ed. Sylvester, P), pp. 308–11. Mineralogical Association of Canada. Short Course Vol. 40.Google Scholar
Hill, CA, Polyak, VJ, Asmerom, Y and Provencio, P (2016) Constraints on a Late Cretaceous uplift, denudation, and incision of the Grand Canyon region, southwestern Colorado Plateau, USA, from U–Pb dating of lacustrine limestone. Tectonics 35, 896–906.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, PF and Schrag, DP (2002) The snowball Earth hypothesis: testing the limits of global change. Terra Nova 14, 129–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, PF and Macdonald, FA (2010) Sheet-crack cements and early regression in Marinoan (635 Ma) cap dolostones: regional benchmarks of vanishing ice-sheets? Earth and Planetary Science Letters 300, 374–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horstwood, MSA, Kosler, J, Gehrels, G, Jackson, SE, McLean, NM, Paton, C, Pearson, NJ, Sircombe, K, Sylvester, P, Vermmesch, P, Bowring, JF, Condon, DJ and Schoene, B (2016) Community-derived standards for LA-ICP-MS U-(Th-)Pb geochronology–uncertainty propagation, age interpretation and data reporting. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research 40, 311–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, Y, Feng, D, Peckmann, J, Roberts, HH and Chen, D (2014) New insights into cerium anomalies and mechanisms of trace metal enrichment in authigenic carbonate from hydrocarbon seeps. Chemical Geology 381, 55–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiang, GQ, Kaufman, AJ, Christie-Blick, N, Zhang, S and Wu, H (2007) Carbon isotope variability across the Ediacaran Yangtze platform in South China: implications for a large surface-to-deep ocean δ13C gradient. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 261, 303–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiang, GQ, Kennedy, MJ and Christie-Blick, N (2003) Stable isotopic evidence for methane seeps in Neoproterozoic postglacial cap carbonates. Nature 426, 822–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jiang, GQ, Kennedy, MJ, Christie-Blick, N, Wu, HC and Zhang, SH (2006) Stratigraphy, sedimentary structures, and textures of the late Neoproterozoic Doushantuo cap carbonate in south China. Journal of Sedimentary Research 76, 978–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiang, GQ, Shi, XY, Zhang, SH, Wang, Y and Xiao, SH (2011) Stratigraphy and paleogeography of the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation (ca. 635-551 Ma) in South China. Gondwana Research 19, 831–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalliomäki, H, Wagner, T, Fusswinkel, T and Schultze, D (2019) Textural evolution and trace element chemistry of hydrothermal calcites from Archean gold deposits in the Hattu schist belt, eastern Finland: indicators of the ore-forming environment. Ore Geology Reviews 112, 103006. doi: 10.1016/j.oregeorev.2019.103006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kamber, BS and Webb, GE (2001) The geochemistry of Late Archaean microbial carbonate: implications for ocean chemistry and continental erosion history. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 65, 2509–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, MJ, Christie-Blick, N and Sohl, LE (2001) Are Proterozoic cap carbonates and isotopic excursions a record of gas hydrate destabilization following Earth’s coldest intervals? Geology 29, 443–6.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, M, Mrofka, D and von der Borch, C (2008) Snowball Earth termination by destabilization of equatorial permafrost methane clathrate. Nature 453, 642–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ku, TL, Knauss, KG and Mathieu, GG (1977) Uranium in open ocean: concentration and isotopic composition. Deep Sea Research 24, 1005–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lan, ZW, Roberts, NMW, Zhou, Y, Zhang, SJ, Li, ZS and Zhao, TP (2022) Application of in situ U–Pb carbonate geochronology to Stenian-Tonian successions of North China. Precambrian Research 370, 106551. doi: 10.1016/j.precamres.2021.106551.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lan, ZW, Sano, Y, Yahagi, T, Tanaka, K, Shirai, K, Papineau, D, Sawaki, Y, Ohno, T, Abe, M, Yang, HW, Liu, H, Jiang, T and Wang, T (2019) An integrated chemostratigraphic (δ13C-δ18O-87Sr/86Sr-δ15N) study of the Doushantuo Formation in western Hubei Province, South China. Precambrian Research 320, 232–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lang, XG, Chen, JT, Cui, H, Man, L, Huang, KJ, Fu, Y, Zhou, CM and Shen, B (2018) Cyclic cold climate during the Nantuo Glaciation: evidence from the Cryogenian Nantuo Formation in the Yangtze Block, South China. Precambrian Research 310, 243–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, XH, Li, WX, Li, ZX, Lo, CH, Wang, J, Ye, MF and Yang, YH (2009) Amalgamation between the Yangtze and Cathaysia Blocks in South China: constraints from SHRIMP U–Pb zircon ages, geochemistry and Nd–Hf isotopes of the Shuangxiwu volcanic rocks. Precambrian Research 174, 117–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, Q, Parrish, RR, Horstwood, MSA and McArthur, JM (2014) U–Pb dating of cements in Mesozoic ammonites. Chemical Geology 376, 76–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liivamägi, S, Šrodoń, J, Bojanowski, MJ, Gerdes, A, Stanek, JJ, Williams, L and Szczerba, M (2018) Paleosols on the Ediacaran basalts of the East European Craton: a unique record of paleoweathering with minimum diagenetic overprint. Precambrian Research 316, 66–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liivamägi, S, Šrodoń, J, Bojanowski, MJ, Stanek, JJ and Roberts, NMW (2021) Precambrian paleosols on the Great Unconformity of the East European Craton: an 800 million year record of Baltica’s climate conditions. Precambrian Research 363, 106327. doi: 10.1016/j.precamres.2021.106327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacDonald, JM, Faithfull, JW, Roberts, NMW, Davies, AJ, Holdsworth, CM, Newton, M, Williamson, S, Boyce, A and John, CM (2019) Clumped-isotope palaeothermometry and LA-ICPMS U–Pb dating of lava-pile hydrothermal calcite veins. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 174. doi: 10.1007/s00410-019-1599-x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meinhold, G, Roberts, NMW, Arslan, A, Jensen, S, Ebbestad, JOR, Högström, AES, Høyberget, M, Agić, H, Palacios, T and Taylor, WL (2020) U–Pb dating of calcite in ancient carbonates for age estimates of syn- to post-depositional processes: a case study from the upper Ediacaran strata of Finnmark, Arctic Norway. Geological Magazine 157, 1367–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michard, A (1989) Rare earth element systematics in hydrothermal fluids. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 53, 745–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nozaki, Y, Zhang, J and Amakawa, H (1997) The fractionation between Y and Ho in the marine environment. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 148, 329–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nuriel, P, Weinberger, R, Kylander-Clark, ARC, Hacker, BR and Craddock, JP (2017) The onset of the Dead Sea transform based on calcite age-strain analyses. Geology 45, 587–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paton, C, Hellstrom, J, Paul, B, Woodhead, J and Hergt, J (2011) Iolite: freeware for the visualisation and processing of mass spectrometric data. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry 26, 2508–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penman, DE and Rooney, AD (2019) Coupled carbon and silica cycle perturbations during the Marinoan snowball Earth deglaciation. Geology 47, 317–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petrus, JA and Kamber, BS (2012) VizualAge: a novel approach to laser ablation ICP-MS U–Pb geochronology data reduction. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research 36, 247–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rasbury, ET and Cole, JM (2009) Directly dating geologic events: U–Pb dating of carbonates. Review of Geophysics 47, 1–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rasbury, ET, Ward, WB, Hemming, NG, Li, H, Dickson, JD, Hanson, GN and Major, RP (2004) Concurrent U–Pb age and seawater 87Sr/86Sr value of a marine cement. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 221, 355–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ring, U and Gerdes, A (2016) Kinematics of the Alpenrhein-Bodensee graben system in the Central Alps: Oligocene/Miocene trans-tension due to formation of the Western Alps arc. Tectonics 35, 1367–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, NMW, Drost, K, Horstwood, MS, Condon, DJ, Chew, D, Drake, H, Milodowski, AE, McLean, NM, Smye, AJ, Walker, RJ and Haslam, R (2020) Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) U–Pb carbonate geochronology: strategies, progress, and limitations. Geochronology 2, 33–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, NMW, Rasbury, ET, Parrish, RR, Smith, CJ, Horstwood, MSA and Condon, DJ (2017) A calcite reference material for LA-ICP-MS U–Pb geochronology. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystem 18, 2807–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, NMW and Walker, RJ (2016) U–Pb geochronology of calcite-mineralized faults: absolute timing of rift-related fault events on the northeast Atlantic margin. Geology 44, 531–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shen, GT and Boyle, EA (1987) Lead in corals: reconstruction of historical industrial fluxes to the surface ocean. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 82, 289–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shields, GA, Deynoux, M, Strauss, H, Paquet, H and Nahon, D (2007) Barite-bearing cap dolostones of the Taoudeni Basin, northwest Africa; sedimentary and isotopic evidence for methane seepage after a Neoproterozoic glaciation. Precambrian Research 153, 209–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Kranendonk, MJ, Webb, GE and Kamber, BS (2003) Geological and trace element evidence for a marine sedimentary environment of deposition and biogenicity of 3.45 Ga stromatolitic carbonates in the Pilbara Craton, and support for a reducing Archaean ocean. Geobiology 1, 91–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vermeesch, P (2018) IsoplotR: a free and open toolbox for geochronology. Geoscience Frontiers 9, 1479–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, JS, Jiang, GQ, Xiao, SH, Li, Q and Wei, Q (2008) Carbon isotope evidence for widespread methane seeps in the ca. 635 Ma Doushantuo cap carbonate in south China. Geology 36, 347–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, J and Li, ZX (2003) History of Neoproterozoic rift basins in South China: implications for Rodinia break-up. Precambrian Research 122, 141–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodhead, JD and Hergt, JM (2001) Strontium, neodymium and lead isotope analyses of NIST glass certified reference materials: SRM 610, 612, 614. Geostandards Newsletters 25, 261–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, S, Karius, V, Schmidt, BC, Simon, K and Woerner, G (2018) Comparison of ultrafine powder pellet and flux-free fusion glass for bulk analysis of granitoids by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research 42, 575–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, S, Worner, G, Jochum, KP, Stoll, B, Simon, K and Kronz, A (2019) The preparation and preliminary characterisation of three synthetic andesite reference glass materials (ARM-1, ARM-2, ARM-3) for in situ microanalysis. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research 43, 567–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, ST, Yang, YH, Jochum, KP, Romer, RL, Glodny, J, Savov, IP, Agostini, S, De Hoog, JCM, Peters, STM, Kronz, A, Zhang, C, Bao, ZA, Wang, XJ, Li, YL, Tang, GQ, Feng, LJ, Yu, HM, Li, ZX, Zhang, L, Lin, J, Zeng, Y, Xu, CX, Wang, YP, Cui, Z, Deng, L, Xiao, J, Liu, YH, Xue, DS, Zhang, D, Jia, LH, Wang, H, Xu, L, Huang, C, Xie, LW, Pack, A, Woerner, G, He, MY, Li, CF, Yuan, HL, Huang, F, Li, QL, Yang, JH, Li, XH and Wu, FY (2021) Isotopic compositions (Li-B-Si-O-Mg-Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb) and Fe2+/ΣFe ratios of three synthetic andesite glass reference materials (ARM-1, ARM-2, ARM-3). Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research 45, 719–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, ST, Yang, YH, Wang, H, Huang, C, Xie, LW and Yang, JH (2020a) Characteristic performance of guard electrode in LA-SF-ICP-MS for multi-element quantification. Atomic Spectroscopy 41, 154–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, ST, Yang, M, Yang, YH, Xie, LW, Huang, C, Wang, H and Yang, JH (2020b) Improved in situ zircon U–Pb dating at high spatial resolution (5–16 μm) by laser ablation–single collector–sector field–ICP–MS using Jet sample and X skimmer cones. International Journal of Mass Spectrometry 456, 116394. doi: 10.1016/j.ijms.2020.116394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, ST, Yang, YH, Roberts, NMW, Yang, M, Wang, H, Lan, ZW, Xie, BH, Li, TY, Xu, L, Huang, C, Xie, LW, Yang, JH and Wu, FY (2022) In situ calcite U-Pb geochronology by high-sensitivity single-collector LA-SF-ICP-MS. Science China Earth Sciences, doi: 10.1007/s11430-021-9907-1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, C, Rooney, AD, Condon, DJ, Li, XH, Grazhdankin, DV, Bowyer, FT, Hu, CL, Macdonald, FA and Zhu, MY (2021) The tempo of Ediacaran evolution. Science Advances 7, eabi9643. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abi9643.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhou, CM, Bao, HM, Peng, YB and Yuan, XL (2010) Timing the deposition of 17O-depleted barite at the aftermath of Nantuo glacial meltdown in South China. Geology 38, 903–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhou, GH, Luo, TY, Zhou, MZ, Xing, LC and Gan, T (2017) A ubiquitous hydrothermal episode recorded in the sheet-crack cements of a Marinoan cap dolostone of South China: implication for the origin of the extremely 13C-depleted calcite cement. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 134, 63–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Lan et al. supplementary material

Lan et al. supplementary material 1
Download Lan et al. supplementary material(File)
File 73.6 KB
Supplementary material: File

Lan et al. supplementary material

Lan et al. supplementary material 2

Download Lan et al. supplementary material(File)
File 39.1 KB